New Delhi: Union law and justice minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Tuesday said the government has decided against bringing appointments to the higher judiciary under the purview of RTI Act and noted that transparency can be achieved even without it.
The minister also said the revised draft memorandum of procedure, a document to guide appointments to the Supreme Court and the 24 high courts, is in the “final stage” and it will be sent to the Chief Justice of India soon.
Gowda replied in the negative to a question on whether the draft MoP refers to bringing judicial appointments under the ambit of the right to information law. He was addressing a press conference on issues related to the law ministry. When asked if Section 8 of the Act does not exclude judicial appointments then why is the government on the “backfoot” on the issue, the minister said “transparency can be attained without an RTI Act also.”
To a question on whether he has met Chief Justice of India in the process of drafting the MoP, he said “yes,” but refused to comment further.
He said that while drafting the MoP is the responsibility of the executive, both the judiciary and the executive have to “agree” on the final draft.
